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Post Secondary Education More Accessible and Affordable

Ontario is making college and university more accessible and affordable for low and middle income students and their families through the single-largest modernization ever of the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP). Under the new grant program, the government will replace a number of existing provincial assistance programs with a single, targeted, non-repayable Ontario Student Grant starting in the 2017-18 academic year. The changes to OSAP will make average tuition free for more than 150,000 eligible low and middle income students, and will reduce the cost for many more by:

Providing the majority of eligible students whose parents earn the median annual income of $83,300 or less with enough in grants to more than cover their tuition costs

Eliminating provincial student loan debt for eligible students whose parents earn less than $50,000 (the $50,000 family income threshold is based on Statistics Canada’s Low Income Measure for a four-person household, before tax)

Ensuring that no eligible student receives less non-repayable aid through the new grant than they currently do through the 30% Off Ontario Tuition Grant.

The Ontario Student Grant will provide additional support for full-time mature and married students, and eligibility will no longer be tied to the number of years a student has been out of high school. This predictable, upfront grant will allow families to plan for their education on the basis of net price -- the difference between the sticker price of tuition and what a student actually needs to pay. The government will work closely with the postsecondary sector to develop planning tools that more accurately calculate the net tuition and net price of a university or college education. About 80 per cent of OSAP recipients, or 250,000 students, are expected to end up with lower student loan debt as a result of the changes to OSAP than they would under current OSAP rules.For more information: http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/budget/ontariobudgets/2016/bk1.html

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